1
as in deceptive
given to or marked by cheating and deception
the commercial is a part of an underhanded PR campaign to whitewash the company's environmental record
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others
an underhanded attempt at infiltrating the other party's headquarters
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in underhand
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of underhanded
Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2025
For example, five of Reese’s 16 shots at the rim in Friday’s game against the Lunar Owls were underhanded.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2025
Barry famously shot his free throws underhanded, too, so this was kind of his comfort zone.
—Daniel Brown, The Athletic, 19 July 2024
This act, designed to build intrigue for their WrestleMania match, portrayed Cena as underhanded.
—Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underhanded
Adverb
His underhanded attempt to maintain power over this case is a judicial power grab that the Department of Justice will fight by all means necessary.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Apr. 2025
For example, five of Reese’s 16 shots at the rim in Friday’s game against the Lunar Owls were underhanded.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2025
Barry famously shot his free throws underhanded, too, so this was kind of his comfort zone.
—Daniel Brown, The Athletic, 19 July 2024
This act, designed to build intrigue for their WrestleMania match, portrayed Cena as underhanded.
—Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underhanded
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underhanded
Adjective
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These emails are loaded with deceptive links that lead to malware infections, and the consequences can be severe.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Aug. 2025
-
Match Group, the parent company of Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and PlentyOfFish, has agreed to pay $14 million to settle a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about deceptive advertising practices.—
Chris Morris,
Fortune,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Party leaders could reveal what their rivals were cooking up and reporters could penetrate clandestine deal-making through sources.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
15 Aug. 2025
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Nic Carter, a crypto venture capitalist, then coined the term Operation Choke Point 2.0, referring to an Obama administration clandestine operation to debank undesirable industries including firearms dealers and payday lenders in the early 2010s.—
Billy Bambrough,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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Each team will alternate tossing the bean bag underhand onto the board until all four bean bags are thrown.—
Anthony Gharib,
USA TODAY,
13 June 2023
-
Pitchers tossed underhand and no one wore gloves yet, resulting in smarting pain in the hands of catchers and first basemen.—
Jeff Suess,
The Enquirer,
29 Mar. 2023
Adjective
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Candidates flagged for fraudulent behavior had a 27% lower quality of hire than their honest peers, according to the same study.—
Michael Fitzsimmons,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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Jones was charged with three felonies — theft of a credit card, criminal use of personal identification information, and fraudulent use of a credit card over two times within six months, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In the South, cool-season grasses are often grown in shady areas of the landscape or seeded over Bermuda grass for winter color.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
17 Aug. 2025
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The creators lean into the shadier side of the law with comic undertones; the result more closely resembles Suits than anything else.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Initially, Moscow opted to provide covert assistance to the rebels in the form of advice and financial support, but its involvement grew steadily more militarized.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
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The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claims Otter's covert recording violates state and federal privacy and wiretap laws.—
Bobby Allyn,
NPR,
15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The radio-wavelength image shows that the black hole’s jet is not straight, but is crooked with three distinct bends.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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In one image, Scales, who had won a Military Cross for his bravery at the front, wears a crooked grimace that suggests recent anguish.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
13 July 2025
Adjective
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He is aided by Yasir Abbas, a weapons specialist; Raghuveer Singh, a sniper who served in Kashmir and Tawang; Uday Bhan, an explosives expert; and Sukhbir Singh, an Indian agent undercover in Pakistan posing as a Karachi stockbroker.—
Time,
Time,
13 Aug. 2025
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Wednesday’s hearing before Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins in downtown Minneapolis focused on several motions from Eichorn, including one to drop the charges and for the defense to be able to call the undercover officer who posed as a 17-year-old girl to testify.—
Mary Murphy,
Twin Cities,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Underhanded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underhanded. Accessed 23 Aug. 2025.
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